Detailed information
Species
Chrysocolla, Quartz
Dimensions
62 x 55 x 47
mm
Weight
153 g
Locality
Ray Mine, Scott Mountain Dripping Spring Mts. Pinal Co., Arizona, USA
Condition
NET
Chrysocolla is a copper silicate species usually found within the near surface oxidized sections of primary copper sulphide-bearing mineral deposits. As an amorphous phase it is usually devoid of form, but it can range in colour from green, blue or even black, or can present all these colours within mottled aggregates which make excellent lapidary material. With silica in solution for it to form, it only takes a slight drop in the availability of copper for Quartz to crystallize instead of Chrysocolla and that is exactly what has occurred here with this beautiful specimen from Ray mine at Scott Mountain, Pinal Co., Arizona, USA. Very large miniature in size, the dappled dark green (possibly with inclusions of Malachite), black and turquoise-blue Chrysocolla matrix has a prominent cavity which is lined with sparkling drusy pale blue Quartz, its colour imparted through inclusions of Chrysocolla and from the colour showing through from beneath the Quartz. This type of material has been encountered at several points in the long history of the vast Ray mine open pit, but very few specimens possess such beauty and fewer still are free from damage after trimming, as this is notoriously difficult to split with a frustrating unpredictability. Hence, why many specimen have cut surfaces, but this one has naturally split surfaces making this a fine smaller display piece.
